Notice Of Default Starts The Meter Running On A Foreclosure

For the homeowner who is behind on payments, the time clock really starts on the foreclosure process when they receive an official Notice of Default via certified mail.

The Notice of Default is impossible to miss. It is usually filed by the lender at about 90 days after the first missed payment. It is officially filed according to the deed of trust on the property and begins the sometimes long, but inevitable foreclosure process.

This is serious because the Notice of Default starts the legal machine in motion. No more begging, demanding and talking.

No emails or phone calls substitute for the Notice of Default, so they send it in every other possible way…certified mail, regular mail, Fed Ex, a notice posted on your front door and even served in person. And then they usually try to contact you several times. After the Notice of Default, there is often not much more contact.

You may be relieved to know that although it is recorded in the public records, the Notice of Default is not easily available online. However any real estate office or title company has access to these public records. If there is any question, you can contact a professional.

While the foreclosure process is underway, though, you may discover that other people now take an interest in your situation. Some may be able to offer genuine help. Others may try to take advantage of the difficult position the homeowner is in.

Keep in mind two things:

First, do not pay anyone a fee for their offer to help.

In spite of crackdowns on scammers in the past few years, they still exist and prey on people in desperate straights. If anyone asks you to send money to resolve a pending foreclosure, don’t believe it. When you are behind on house payments, the last thing you need is to send your money to someone who has no intention of either helping you stay in your home or avoid a foreclosure.

Second, don’t lose hope.

Sometimes a short sale or a cash offer for your home can circumvent the foreclosure. This depends on whether the actual foreclosure date has been established by the lender. The bank, remember, often prefers to settle a debt in any other way than a costly foreclosure.

In Texas, notice of the date of a foreclosure sale must be at least 21 days before the actual sale. This notice must not take place until after 20 days from the from the filing date of a Notice of Default. These are the minimum times.

That means you have 20 days after the Notice of Default to make up all back payments and reinstate your loan before the lender serves you with a foreclosure sale date. And that date should be no earlier than 21 days in the future.

So let’s do the math: Around three months after the first missed mortgage payment comes the Notice of Default. Then 20 days to get your loan back in good standing. Then 21 days until the actual foreclosure. That’s nearly 5 months at the earliest.

The deeper into the process the homeowner gets, the more difficult it is to stall the inevitable foreclosure.

As much as the homeowner may hope that somehow a check will come in to save the day, or a family member will step in to make up payments, or a lottery ticket will miraculously win the big one, the truth is harsher. The slippery slope of missed house payments means each month it gets harder to pay.

Before that happens, we urge the homeowner who is behind on payments to get realistic and get help. We recommend that you proactively seek the services of a turnkey investor like Markette Properties. We can move quickly and come up with a solution. At the very least you will get an alternative solution to the foreclosure at hand.

When the foreclosure meter is running, clients tell us that just having the second option takes the burden away. Control over their future depends on action steps once that clock starts ticking down.

We can buy your house fast in Texas! Markette Properties presents a unique, simple approach for selling your home! We are real estate investors. Yes we buy houses in Texas just like yours! And yes we are dedicated to the highest professional real estate standards for all of our clients.

Do you want to sell your house fast in Texas for top dollar with the least hassle? Give us a call! (210) 853-2788 or click the button below.